A Lesson in Life
by Peegore
Summary: When a troubled redhead called Axel enters Roxas' life, he is pulled into what could possibly be one of the deadliest situations he'll ever face... but not even the deadliest of situations can stop them from falling for each other.
1. Coffee House

**Disclaimer that I shouldn't even need to put on here: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

**Author's Note: l0l hay guyz. This chapter is very short, I know, others will be longer. Oh, and they'll also flow smoother. Stick with me for a bit. Try to enjoy it anyway. (Thanks to iluvtoady for pointing out the blaring typo on this chapter.) **

**Intro: Coffee House**

Don't you just hate it when everything is going well and then one small, tiny event takes place, and things start going downhill? Yeah, me too. Don't you just hate school, too? It messes up your life. Well, I had a feeling it would. For me. At some point... and that feeling was right, because it did... Just not in the way I expected it to.

Roxas slowly paced his way down the snowy street that lead to the local cafe. It was afternoon, 3PM, Thursday. He turned the corner, and then opened the door to the aformentioned cafe. Feeling a massive rush of heat hit his previously crimson face, the spiky blonde stepped inside and walked over to the counter of the large room. See, this was Starbucks... Not a trashy place where geeky 19 year olds work. Well, they probably do, actually... While Roxas waited at the counter for someone to actually do their job and pay attention to him, he looked around. Lot's of people, busy talking to one another, laughing, one person crying... That was Radiant Garden... A million different drama's happened every day.

Roxas normally goes straight home after school, but he was supposed to meet his brother here today because his mum wouldn't be home until later. No key, you see. _Doesn't she trust me or something? God... It'd help if she just put a little faith in m-_ The teen's thoughts were interrupted when someone came to serve him from the other side of the counter. "Yes?" The woman asked him politely, a most likely fake smile plastered onto her face.

"Yeah, I just want a coffee, please. Normal." Roxas told her, putting his own fake smile on in turn. "Ok, just one moment." She replied, turning away and going to one of the machines. Roxas felt into the pocket of his favourite, trademark cream checkered jacket for his wallet, only to find... _It's gone?_ Roxas started to silently panic, because that wallet had a fair bit of money in it.

"Having trouble?" Asked a mysterious voice, one he'd never heard before. Is_ he talking to me? _Roxas thought, looking around to see a boy, probably 17 or 18, looking down at him with a devilish grin on his face. He had odd, untamed, crimson hair, and green eyes that Roxas swore could pierce straight through you. "I saw you looking a bit... flustered. Here..." He handed Roxas a small yellow and green ball, which of course was Munny. Roxas had always wondered why it was balls, and not just... flat. Before he could even utter a word back, the stranger was leaving through the door. Roxas was quite peeved, mainly because the red haired boy had obviously found his situation amusing. It was easy to tell that from his tone, and Roxas didn't quite like it.

"Excuse me? That'll be 3.50." The woman asked, breaking Roxas out of his train of thoughts. He handed her the Munny and took the coffee, and then sat down at an unoccupied table. It was atleast twenty minutes of looking at special deals in the little advertisement books before his brother came, looking around for a moment before finding him and coming over to sit down next to him... "Roxas, hey." He said, sounding slightly worn out. His name was Cloud. He looked a bit like Roxas, blonde spikey hair, blue eyes... The differences being that he was much taller and much more well built, as he worked out alot.

"So, how long did I keep you waiting?" He asked Roxas while fishing in his pocket for something. "Half an hour..." Roxas replied, looking down into his coffee. "Oh, I'm sorry. Work. Had to do a bit of overtime." Cloud said apologetically.

"Ah, here," Cloud suddenly came out with, handing Roxas a dull metal key. "I have to go back to work for a bit, so... see you later, Roxas." He said, ruffling the other boy's hair up. Roxas hated it when he did that... But Roxas always supposed he had the right to do that, seeing as Cloud was 21, and Roxas was 16.

After a while, Roxas finally found the energy and motivation to leave the cafe. Unlike earlier, the snow was coming down slowly now, and replacing the sleet on the road with new layers of enchanting white. It rarely snowed in Radiant Garden, and with it being such a modern, bustling place it seemed to fit that way.

Just as Roxas was about to turn the corner, he saw him again... That red haired guy... This time, though... He was with 3 other people. _A gang? _It looked like it. It was far too dark for Roxas to actually make out what the others looked like. What he did see was that the readhead was looking at him. Probably grinning and laughing at him, he thought to himself.

_Ignore them, Roxas... Ignore them. _And he did, as he walked down the street towards his house, which was almost slap bang in the middle of Radiant Garden. When Roxas arrived, the door was unlocked. If only he'd have left earlier he'd have been able to actually use the key, but atleast he had it for the future now.

As he walked into the living room, Roxas noticed his mum was cleaning everything like she normally does. "Oh, sweetie, you're back..." She said slowly as she dusted the bookcase. She didn't comment about him being home later than herself, but just continued cleaning and payed no mind to him. She wasn't normally like this, but when she's cleaning... She turns into something else. Roxas rolled his eyes and laughed to himself before he went to his bedroom. He could have stayed up longer, but he had alot of homework to do... and he was tired. Very tired.

He did finish his homework, but when he finally got into bed... He couldn't sleep for a while... He was too busy thinking about the various things that had happened on that day. It was midnight when he fell asleep, and he was blissfully unaware of the events that were to come in the near future... unaware he was about to recieve a lesson in life.

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If you like, please review!


	2. Ciao

**Author's Notes: Well, this chapter isn't too much longer, but I have alot in store for the next chapter. AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER TOO! YAY! Ah, I don't really like this chapter. I hope you guys do.**

Roxas woke up the following day to the horrible screeching noise that was his alarm clock. He promptly bashed it to shut it up and got out of bed. _Atleast it's friday,_ he thought, as he left his room and made his way to the kitchen. He was greeted by the smell of coffee, something like pancakes and two family members.

"Good morning, Roxas!" His mum shouted rather cheerily, as she poured three cups of coffee. Roxas grunted in reply and made a small grin at the fact that his mum made no real response. Something frighteningly good must have happened, because she was never this happy.

"Roxas, have you seen this?" A brunette boy asked him from across the table as he pointed at an article on the front page of the newspaper. His name was Sora. He was actually one of Roxas's cousins, but one day his parents went missing, and so Mum had volunteered to take care of him.His hair was just as spiky as Roxas's was, if not even more. Roxas grabbed the newspaper and read the headline with a slight expression of shock on his face.

**'Radiant Garden University murder!'**

"God..." Was all Roxas could really say, as he continued to read the article. It went on to explain that four people had been killed, and while the murderer is missing, it is expected the attack had something to do with drugs. A large amount of many drugs had been found where the murderer had been staying, and the murderer supposedly dealed alot. Roxas was interrupted from his reading session when his put multiple morning foods on the table.

"I have two pieces of news, boys. What do you want to hear first? There's a good one, and a... bad one. The good one? Excellent!" She said as she sat down at the table. "Ok, Michael is coming back to see us for a bit! Isn't that great? He has some free time on his hands, so he decided to make the most of it and come visit us all the way down here." She was obviously excited as she explained. Michael was the dad. Although he wasn't really Sora's dad, they thought of each other as father and son anyway.

"That's great! When?" Sora asked, getting all giddy like he normally did.

"Christmas. So... 3 months." Mum explained, before going onto explain that Cloud would be leaving to live in Twilight Town with his fiance. Before long both boys had packed their stuff and were out of door, heading for school. Morning's at the house always flew by, for some reason. The weather had calmed down from yesterday, and so a happy sunlight covered the whole city with yellow rays. And of course as a result of this the snow had melted, which was too bad, because messing around in the snow at school was fun, no matter how old you are.

"Hey, Roxas! Sora!" A loud, possibly obnoxious voice called out as soon as Roxas and Sora arrived through the gates of the school. The school was an extremely big one, with 5 buildings to spread it's classes across, and a massive outdoor space in general. What was possibly most impressive was the statue that stood tall in the middle courtyard, a statue of an armoured body holding a strange key-like weapon. Everybody always thought some crazy man made it.

"Hey, Hayner." Roxas said as he approached his group of friends. There was Hayner, the blonde guy who always got on people's nerves... Then there was Olette, she was the voice of reason in the group and the one who always played devils advocate. Pence, the food loving guy who was always jolly. And finally, Namine, a very quiet and meek girl who everyone thinks should get together with Roxas.

"Have you heard about what happened at Radiant Garden University?" Olette asked the two newcomers, who sadly nodded their heads in reply.

"What's real scary, guys, is that the murderer hasn't even been caught! What if he's running amok in this school as we speak!" Pence cried, obviously working himself up over the subject, which he did alot.

"They guy who did it supposedly has a history of drug use, and child abuse among other things." Olette pointed out, ignoring Pence's sudden outbreak of panic. Olette knew alot about the things that went on around the city, mainly because she had alot of connections and also a job for the local newsletter.

"Well, let's just hope that if he does decide to come over here and murder some of us, he gets caught before he does anyone in." Roxas added, as everybody agreed with him in one way or another. But before anybody could add to this particular coversation, the bell rang, and a multicoloured wave of people began swarming into the school.

Classes went fast for Roxas that friday, up until the third period. Third period for him was Science, and that was when things truly started to change for him. He might not have known it, but choosing Starbucks as the meeting place with his brother had undoubtedly sent him down a life changing path. Fate is a funny thing. If Roxas hadn't have gone to Starbucks that day, this Science lesson wouldn't have meant anything.

Roxas entered the classroom late, due to the fact that Hayner had been bugging him about some Struggle garbage. He walked into the hot room and sat down at his desk, but of course the whole class had their eyes on him. Luckily, the teacher had not been paying attention, and so Roxas did not recieve a verbal punch to the face.

It was about five minutes after he had sat down when he noticed someone in particular sat next to him. That shocking red hair, those bright green eyes, those... strange tattoos? It was _that_ boy. Roxas couldn't help but stare at him for a few minutes before the redhead noticed him and turned around. _Shit,_ Roxas thought as he turned away and blushed slightly.

"How was your coffee?" He asked in a whisper, leaning over to Roxas's desk. Roxas didn't answer, and just kept on writing.

"You not gonna answer? Fine." Roxas hated to admit it, but he was pretty intimidated by this guy. The way he said 'you not gonna answer?' struck a chord in him, and he realised just how scary he was. Roxas had no idea why he was scared of him, there was just an air about him. The other boy finally gave up, and returned to doing his work with a shake of his head and a cocky laugh. Roxas could've sworn he heard a '_What a punk'_ after he had turned back to his work.

As soon as Roxas left the classroom, he headed for the toilets. The tension in the classroom had been too high for him, and as a result he was now feeling just a bit stressed. And he needed a shit. Sorry. He pushed the door open and walked over to one of the sinks. Good, nobody was in here. Bad things normally happened when two people were in the toilets. Alot of people got beat up or something along those lines, but those were mainly the people who fell into the 'geek' category. Roxas wasn't really in a group. Nobody knew him.

Just as he was drying his face off from covering it in water, the door opened with a crash. Roxas turned his head sharply to see who had disturbed the silence. _Christ, isn't he leaving me alone? Is he a stalker now? _Roxas thought to himself as he looked at the redhead. Whoops, he was doing it again. Roxas quickly turned back to the mirror.

"What do you want?" Roxas asked, as he saw the lanky boy approach him. His voice was shaky, and he was half convinced he was about to get walloped into oblivion or something.

"Why didn't you answer me?" He said in reply, as Roxas backed into a corner. "You're not scared of me, are you?" He said, with a small laugh at the end.

Roxas didn't reply, but just looked him in the eye. _Roxas, you idiot! You're letting him know your terrified!_

"Oh, dear god, you are! Look, kid, there is absolutely no reason to be scared of me..." He said, as he held his hand out to Roxas. "The name's Axel. Try not to forget it." Roxas slowly but surely shook his hand as he replied with his own name.

"Roxas..." He managed to mutter out, as he straightened up. "Why did you help me the other day?"

"Why? Because one of my friends had a hunch you had lost your money when he saw you dancing in panic, so I said I'd lend you some... No need to pay me back, by the way, ok, Blondie?" He added to the end of the sentence as he left the toilet. "Sorry to cut this meeting short, but I have to go. See you around, kid."

Roxas was left in a state of partial shock.

"I don't understand why people ever get scared of you. Is it the way you dress? You're just one big softie," A pink haired boy said, as he sat down at the table.

"Says you, fairy boy," Axel replied, with a smug grin on his face. Marluxia, the other boy, glared at him for a moment before Axel continued. "I don't know why he's scared of me. I mean, like you said, I don't look scary..."

"Whatever, this hasn't got anything to do with me. Make friends with him. I don't care." Marluxia snapped, suddenly going into a foul mood. Marluxia was prone to sudden mood swings, and most of the time people didn't know if he meant what he was saying, because it could just be because he's in a bad mood.

"Hmm... You don't mean that." Axel replied. Axel hardly knew the boy, but he seemed interesting. He wanted to be friends with him, but would Roxas let him? But also, he didn't want people to hate him. And Marluxia knew damn well why.

"I hate him!" Roxas cried out in frustration. Namine was sat opposite him, a hand on his shoulder.

"It sounds like he just wants to be friends, Roxas. You can't really hate him." Namine said, and Roxas knew she was right. He did probably just want to be friends. Roxas was putting up a fake act of hate, and he had no idea why. Was it because he had convinced himself he hated him?

"I know... But..."

"Roxas, this is totally up to you, but I would find him and show interest in getting to know him... But like I said, it's your choice." Namine finished, standing up and waving as she walked off.

Roxas knew she was right. He also knew deep inside he wanted to be friends with Axel because he seemed like a... very interesting person, to say the least. It was just finding the right words. Roxas stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, keeping an eye out for the redhead as he headed for his destination. Of course, it wasn't him who found Axel. Axel found him.

"Hey, blondie." He said with a wide grin on his face. Roxas jumped at his voice and turned to face him. It was slightly awkward what with them being in the middle of a crowded hall, but people just brushed past them and maybe made some hateful comment.

"Oh... Hey..." Roxas replied, and he was about to make up some excuse to run away, but then he remembered that he was trying to find him in the first place.

"I just wanted-" Axel started, but he was cut off when he was pushed out of the way. He made a face at them and then went off to the side, gesturing for Roxas to follow him. He did, and they ended up at a dead end corridor, with a janitor's closet at the end.

"Well, I just wanted to... Don't hate me, ok? I don't want you to feel small near me." Axel said pleadingly, being completely serious for once.

"I don't. I'm sorry, Axel, it was just bad first impressions... I don't hate you."

"Ah, that's cool, then. Hey, so, we friends?" Axel asked.

"Yeah." Roxas said with a smile on his face.

"Great! Well, then..." Axel trailed off, slowly inching closer to Roxas. Nobody could see them. They were completely secluded. Axel's lips advanced towards Roxas's, and then they collided. It was a slow kiss, and Roxas didn't do anything to resist mainly because he was in shock. Axel backed off, and started walking down the corridor.

"Ciao."

Roxas crumpled to the floor. Good job it was only a kiss to the lips, or Roxas might have done something more than crumpled to the floor.

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mayk s00re u reeevew lol


	3. Conflicts and Friendships

**Author's Note: This chapter took a bit longer because I had a really horrible ear infection. Anyway, it was hard for me to write this because I was trying to steer the plot in the right direction... Next chapter will be providing a little of what you came for: Akuroku. And then after that, alot more. :3 Anyway, thanks for reading. (Oh, and one other thing. This will eventually stop focusing on school. Probably from the next chapter. I'm getting sick of trying to remember schedules and days... blah. I have a bad memory.) Please try to review!**

"You did _what?"_ Marluxia hissed at Axel as they sat down at one of the tables in the cafeteria. It was monday,

"I kissed him." Axel replied nonchalantly as he picked up a sandwich and stared at it, not really planning on paying much attention to Marluxia. All he ever did was tell him off.

"What? Is that it?" Marluxia snapped back.

"But I just didn't want him to-"

"Yeah, I know, but that really isn't how you go about it!"

Axel sighed and put down that sandwich. It was ham. He didn't like ham. Marluxia sighed, too. "Well, Axel, it's none of my buisness, I suppose. Just... don't go too fast."

Roxas wasn't so eager in telling his friends what had happened. He was constantly thinking about what happened, going over it in his mind. Why had he done it? What happened to being friends? Roxas wasn't aware that if you were friends with Axel, he kissed you. Roxas opened the door to his English class to see he was a tad early, only a few people were seated. One of them being Namine, so he sat down next to her and sighed.

"Roxas? What's wrong with you lately? You've seemed a little... out of it..." Namine said delicately, putting a hand on his shoulder. Roxas waited a moment before choosing his answer.

"Something happened... After science." Roxas muttered, looking down at the table while more people filtered into the classroom.

"Well, that's a bit vague." Namine replied with a gentle laugh following it. Roxas wasn't as amused.

"Yeah, well, I just don't want to talk about it."

"Does it have something to do with... Axel, was he called?" Roxas didn't reply and simply started writing down what was being put onto the board. Namine sighed and smiled to herself, she too turning to the board.

It was the next day in the period before lunch when Roxas had science again. _Joy..._ Roxas would have to sit next to Axel again, and again,and again. And it would be awkward, because Roxas wasn't sure if he could sit next to the person who had came onto him for no reason. He took his seat, and was relieved to find that Axel was not there... Or he was, until he came into the classroom late 10 minutes later. Neither of them spoke to each other the whole lesson, let alone looked at each other. Roxas was trying his hardest not to look at Axel, who was occasionaly glancing round to see if he was looking at him.

"Ok, now begone." The teacher said in a jokey voice as he pointed to the door. Axel rushed to the door, but not before slamming something down onto Roxas' desk when he wasn't looking. Roxas jumped and looked onto the desk to see a post it note.

**'Go to the cluster of tree's near the Bike Shed.'**

_What, he didn't have the guts to talk to me in person?_ Roxas thought as he picked up the note and rammed it into his pocket. "Roxas, are we leaving this classroom or not?" The teacher asked with a smile.

"Sorry..." Roxas apologised as he walked out of the classroom, the teacher not soon after.

Roxas walked through the school and past the cafeteria. His friends would probably wonder why he wasn't there, because he was there every lunchtime. But this was more important. He was asking himself in his mind, over and over again ; why was he going to meet this guy? After what he did? He stopped when the tree's in question came into sight, and then began walking towards them. As expected, Axel was sat on the grassy earth under one of the tree's, staring into the sky. He snapped his eyes down when he heard footsteps, and then got up.

"Roxas." Axel said, walking towards him.

"What do you want?" Roxas replied, crossing his arms and looking away.

"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you. It sort of just... happened." Axel said sheepishly, looking down to the ground. Roxas looked his way and unfolded his arms.

"Axel, you said we were friends. And then you kissed me. It's kind of hard to forgive." Roxas patronised with a stern look on his face, but that look melted when he saw Axel's miserable face. "But... I am going to forgive you."

Axel lit up at this, and was about to step forward and do _something,_ before he stopped himself and just continued to beam. "Really? Great! Now let's make out." Axel joked, as Roxas gave him a funny look.

"I don't... think so..." Roxas said slowly as he put on a lopsided grin. _'Is he gay...? Is Axel gay?_' Roxas thought as he stared at Axel.

"Rox, did you hear me?" Axel said as he waved a hand infront of his face. Roxas suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.

"What? I spaced out."

"Yeah, I noticed. I was saying bye. I have to go somewhere." Axel said with his trademark smirk on his face.

"Oh, ok. Bye." Roxas replied as Axel waved over his shoulder and dissapeared into one of the large buildings.

Over the next few days, Roxas and Axel got to know each other a bit better. Roxas noticed that Axel was in more of his classes than he thought, and they talked alot more. Roxas found out that Axel was pretty bad at maths, and writing, too.

"Axel, for the last time, that is not how you do standard form!" Roxas half-shouted, leaning back in his chair in exasperation. Axel frowned at the textbook and put it down. Roxas had been spending the whole lesson balancing teaching Axel and doing his own work.

"Well, that's how you told me to do it!" Axel retorted, huffing and balancing his chin on his fist. Just as Roxas was about to reply, the teacher told them the lesson was over and they all filtered out of the classroom. Science was next. As the two were walking to the next period, Axel decided to strike up conversation.

"So, blondie. What's your sexual preference?" Axel asked, without once looking at Roxas. Roxas looked at Axel confused, and then replied.

"Err... I'm straight. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just wondering..." '_Yeah... just wondering...'_

"Oh... What about you?" Roxas asked. It was only fair to ask the same question back, no matter how out of the blue it was.

"Me? Ah, I'm... err..."

"What? Are you gay?"

"No! But I do sorta like... boys..." Axel said, making that last part a whisper.

"You like b-" Roxas started, but was cut off when Axel clamped a hand over his mouth and started to look around. '_I thought so...'_

"Roxas! Shut it," Axel said as he took his hand away, "do you have a problem with that?" Axel asked, sincerely hoping he wouldn't.

"No. I was just suprised."

"Good..." The two of them continued on to the science class, ignoring the looks of the people who had been near them previously. Science went slowly, mainly because the lesson was so boring. Afterwards, Roxas saw Hayner in the corridor and tried to catch up with him, since Axel had gone somewhere else. Hayner turned around and looked a bit peeved, to say the least.

"Roxas, what the hell is wrong with you?" Hayner growled, resisting the urge to push Roxas over. Roxas sent a confused look his way.

"What? What are you talking about?" Roxas replied in fake startled tone.

"We were wondering why you were never talking to us. We were starting to think you'd left school or something, because we never see you!" Roxas had to admit, Hayner was right... Over the last few days, Roxas had stopped hanging out with his lifelong friends in favour of his new friends... Axel and Demyx, and the next day the other friends. He'd also been walking to school with Axel, and going home with him. This was because they found that they only lived a street away from each other, so Roxas had decided, why not have a change of company? But no, he also wanted to know why Hayner was so damn offended by the fact he was making new friends.

_The afternoon of the day when Axel had apologised. Roxas was walking home with Sora, Hayner and Pence. Sora and Hayner were talking about Struggle, their sport of choice, and Pence was just pretending to know what they were talking about. Roxas wasn't really listening. Ten minutes later, when Hayner and Pence parted from Sora and Roxas, Roxas saw somebody familiar. All too familiar. It was Axel, and he was turning into a house. It was semi-detatched, as was the rest of that street. Axel was looking around while fishing in his pocket for something, most likely keys. Axel caught sight of Roxas and waved, and he gave a small wave back. Sora noticed, and decided to inquire._

_"Hey, who's that? Your boyfriend?" Sora teased, and flinched when Roxas tried to hit him. Axel was gone when Roxas looked back._

_"No, just a friend, actually." Roxas said in return, as they turned onto the street on which they lived. _

_"Roxas, I didn't know you had the ability to make new friends!" Sora shouted as he gave a fake 'aww'. Roxas ignored him as he opened the front door. Sora spent the rest of the night teasing him._

_The next day at school, Axel caught up to Roxas in the cafeteria. Roxas was sat in his usual place with all his friends, but he knew by now that Axel wasn't the sort of person to be intimidated by... well, anything. Hayner shot him a dirty look as soon as he appeared, but nobody actually noticed. As much as Axel tried to ignore it, he knew that most of the school knew of his orientation. And although most people at the school didn't actually give a damn, there were a few hardcore 'anti-anythingbutstraights'._

_"Hey, Blondie. When you're done, would ya mind coming upto the bike shed? There's people... well, a person I'd like you to meet." Axel explained._

_"Oh... err, sure." Roxas replied, looking over at his friends. None of them were paying any attention to him at all. Not even Hayner, who was now talking with Pence._

_"Ah, great! Demmy'll finally get off my back..." Axel said, muttering the last part as he walked away with a small wave. He looked over at Hayner, who was looking at Roxas out of the corner of one eye, while still listening to Pence._

_Quarter of an hour later, Roxas headed over to the tree's near the bike shed. Sure enough, Axel was there. He was talking to someone who Roxas hadn't seen before, and he assumed this was 'Demmy'. As Roxas approached them, Axel turned around and greeted him. "Hey, Blondie!" Axel shouted out._

_"Axel, I'm right here. You don't have to shout." Roxas scolded, but he was only joking. _

_"Yeah, yeah. This here is Demyx." Axel said as he made a gesture towards Demyx. He was a tall boy, not as tall as Axel, but still tall. He had an odd hairstyle, to say the least. Demyx did a cute little wave at Roxas._

_"Hey, so you're the Roxas kid Axel's been telling us about?" Demyx asked. Roxas looked at Axel. For one, who was us? Roxas assumed it was Demyx and some other people. And two, he'd been talking about him?__Roxas had no idea Axel had been talking about him to his friends..._

_"Yeah, I'm Roxas..." Roxas half muttered as he stared at Demyx's hair. Demyx just laughed and then suddenly remembered something. _

_"Oh, shit. I'm supposed to be meeting Marlers down at Art. See you later, guys. Roxas, we'll talk more later!" Demyx said, quickly adding that last part to the sentence as he jogged off to the Art Block. Axel and Roxas just stared at each other for a moment before Axel shook his head and grinned at Roxas._

_"So, Blondie. You live near me?" Axel asked, tilting his head off to the right._

_"Yeah. Next street down. Sunset Avenue." Roxas said. _

_"Ah, cool. I know a few people on that street. So, since we're practically neighbours, whad'ya say we walk home together?"_

_"Oh, I..." Roxas was about to say no, because he always walked home with Hayner, his cousin and Pence. But then he thought back to how Hayner had reacted at lunch. 'How can he be so offended by the fact that I've made new friends?' Roxas thought to himself. So he decided to say yes instead, mainly because he did want to walk with Axel, but to also get on Hayner's nerves. "... I'd love to." 'Whoops, did I just say I'd love to?'_

_Axel raised an eyebrow at Roxas' answer before speaking. "Cool. Just meet me in the courtyard. Well, I have to go. See you soon, Blondie!" Axel called back as he walked towards the Art Block, too. 'Blondie' was starting to catch on to him..._

_Roxas was out before Axel, and he waited at the statue, one of the only interesting landmarks in the school. Wasn't it supposed to be Roxas who was meeting Axel here, not the other way around? Roxas was stood there for a few minutes before he saw a familiar mane of red hair come bouncing out of the front doors. His friends were long gone, and he had seen Hayner looking around for him, and purposely hid himself. He was starting to feel pretty bad. He didn't need to do that, did he? Well, he decided he wasn't going to think about Hayner. "Yo, Rox!" Axel yelled as he jogged over to Roxas._

_"Axel, what the hell? I've been here for effing ages." Roxas said in an exasperated tone. Axel sent him an apologetic look._

_"Sorry. I was helping Demyx with his art." Axel explained, gesturing towards the gates. "Shall we go, fair lady?" _

_"Shut up, Axel." Roxas grinned as they headed off towards the gate._

_"Roxas, I was wondering. What do you say to going to one of my favourite places at the weekend? With me and my friends, of course." Axel said as they turned the corner to Axel's street. Roxas thought about what he had planned for the weekend. Nothing. He never did._

_"Err... Sure, I suppose?" _

_"Great! I'll phone you... Oh wait, what's your number?" Axel asked as he pulled out his phone. They swapped numbers and then Axel turned off into his house. The rest of the way home, Roxas thought about the fact that he had Axel's number on his phone. It was strange. When he got home, Sora had a small rant at how he had 'ditched' them, but Roxas explained._

_"So... Ok, I get it! But I'm not taking sides. But, I understand... I suppose." Sora said as they headed into the kitchen for tea. _

_"Boys, I'd like to officially announce that Cloud has moved out..." Mum said in a busy tone, as she was rushing around preparing the meal. The news was recieved with a round of groans and general displeasure, but the mood soon passed as they recieved their food. It wouldn't be that different anyway, because they barely saw him. Roxas then retreated to his bedroom, did homework, surfed the net... And then the next day came._

"Look, Hayner, I'm sorry, but I've made some new friends. Deal with it." Roxas retorted, looking away. Hayner simply made a small gasp of disbelief before replying.

"But Roxas, he likes _boy's. _Why the fuck do you want to be friends with someone like him?!

"You know what, Hayner? Fuck off. If you're such a homophobe, maybe you shouldn't be friends with me anymore." Roxas shouted out of pure aggrevation, gaining the attention of various people.

"You know what, _Roxas_? I don't _want_ to be _friends_ with you. Piss off." And then, he was gone. Roxas stood there for a moment before somebody pushed him, and then he made his way down to the cafeteria. To sit on his own. '_I'm not going to let Hayner ruin anything.' _Roxas thought to himself. He'd just stood up for Axel, and it felt right.It was Saturday soon, the weekend. And Roxas looked forward to it. And it would also make a massive impact on his life, but he didn't know that.


	4. The Start of Something Good

**Author's Note: Ok, not as Akuroku as I may have promised. But I have decided one thing. Up until now, I've been writing less to get chapters out faster. I'm going to start making them longer, but they will take longer to come out. Anyway, this chapter marks the start of Axel and Roxas' proper relationship. Sparks will be flying soon. WHAT SORT OF SPARKS THOUGH? DUN DUN DUN. Yeah... All your reviews are belong to me.**

Roxas woke up on saturday morning and instantly turned around to check his alarm clock. 6:45. _What? Why am I up this early? I normally don't wake up until 9._ Roxas thought as he got out of bed. Roxas was one of those people who once they woke up, couldn't get back to sleep no matter what. So he crept downstairs and into the living room, and sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV. Nothing interesting, so he did the boring routines of the morning. It was around 8:00 AM when the rest of the family woke up. Sora walked into the living room and gave a fake gasp. "Roxas? Is that you?" Sora asked with a fake gasp. Roxas rolled his eyes and then headed back up the stairs to get something from his bedroom. When he was rummaging through his drawers, his phone rang. It was an tune with japanese lyrics. He span around and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Roxas asked into the reciever.

"Ah, Blondie! You're up, great. You ready to go soon?" Axel asked, a grin obvious from the voice emitting through the phone.

"What? This early? It's only-"

"8 AM, I know. Want me to pick you up?" Axel asked. Roxas stopped for a moment. Axel had a car? Cool, was what went through his mind at first, but then he wondered if it was a good idea to get into a car with someone he'd only known for a short while. It wasn't that he didn't trust Axel, but it just seemed... wierd. Let's add that to the collection of wierd things.

"Sure... Just let me get ready... And I need to tell my mum where I'm going and everything!" Roxas replied happily. He was genuinely excited for the first time in ages. Axel laughed.

"Righty-o, Rox... Fifteen minutes sound good to you?"

"Ah... Yeah. See you soon."

"Bye." Axel said as he hung up. Roxas did the same and then apporached his wardobe to get ready. He had alot of clothes, but he always ended up wearing his jacket out and all of his other now 'trademark' clothes. It was only Axel... nothing special. So he changed out of his pajamas and then went downstairs. "Mum?" Roxas called out as he entered the kitchen. She was washing up.

"Yesss, honey?" She replied, cheery as always.

"I'm... going out with a friend. He'll be here to pick me up in a few minutes." Roxas said as he grabbed a banana and started eating it. He'd need more than a banana, but there wasn't time to eat anything large. His mum looked at him with a widening grin on her face. Roxas stared back at her mid-chew.

"... O...K, Roxas... When will you be back?" She asked, turning back to her washing.

"I don't know. Before dark." Roxas estimated before throwing the banana peel into the bin. He heard a car pull up outside, and his mum spying through the blind was a dead clue that it was Axel. His mum probably thought it was strange that he was going out on the weekend because... he never did, besides going out with Hayner and his other friends. But that was out of the window. Roxas had never told his mum about Axel either, so she didn't know who he was going out with. He could tell she was still grinning as he said his goodbyes to the house and went outside to greet Axel, who was leaning on the side of his car. Roxas had expected a cheap car. Boy, was he wrong. Well, he wasn't _totally _wrong. It wasn't cheap, but at the same time it wasn't exactly what you might call a top of the range sports car.

It was black, with a streamlined shape, but to be honest, it looked a bit... dusty, to say the least. "Hey, Blondie!" Axel yelled as he waved at the blonde. See, in pretty much every other place, the legal driving age is eighteen. But in Radiant Garden, it's sixteen. Nobody really knows why. Roxas walked up to the car and ran his finger over the bonet of the care and made his way to the door.

"Axel, why is this car so dirty?" Roxas asked as he examined the inside through the window. Axel laughed.

"That's because I never clean it, duh. Anyway, we're not supposed to be at... the special place for another hour and half. Have you eaten?" Axel asked as he opened the car door for Roxas and then walked over to the right of the car where the drivers seat was. Roxas climbed in. It smelled of new car.

"Only a banana. Why?"

"Because we're going to Starbucks." Axel smirked as he started to reverse onto the street. It was only a 5 minute drive to Starbucks, and the drive was spent with Axel asking Roxas about his type of music. "Hey, Blondie."

"What?" Roxas said as he stared out of the window.

"What sort of music d'ya like?"

"Err... Let's see... Ever heard of a band called The GazzetE?"

"No. They sound funny, though. Isn't that the name of a newspaper?" Roxas rolled his eyes at this comment.

"No. I'm not suprised you haven't heard them, they're Japanese. A J-rock band."

"Oh, ok."

"What about you?"

"Ah, just mainstream crap." Axel said with a small shrug.

"_Really."_ Roxas said, somehow not believing him one bit. Before Axel could give a proper reply, they arrived at Starbucks. Axel jumped out of the car and waited for Roxas to get out aswell before locking it. Roxas decided not to push the subject as they went in. They approached the counter, Axel commenting on the fact that the shop seemed to be a bit empty today, as only a few tables had people occupying them. A woman almost immediately adressed them.

"Hi there. What would you like?"

"We'd like... two coffee's... and... 2 breakfast combos." Axel said with a smile. The woman went back to get them. Axel was glad they'd started doing food other than buns cakes and biscuits.

"I like how you assume I want them." Roxas said with a sigh.

"You don't?"

"Oh, I do. I'm just amazed at how... Ah, it doesn't matter." Roxas spoke as the woman came back with their stuff. Axel insisted on paying for Roxas, and after much protest, Roxas let him. They found a table, which was easy, and sat down. Axel was the first to speak as he handed over half of the stuff to Roxas.

"We get on pretty well, eh, Blondie?" Axel remarked as he blew his coffee.

"...I suppose we do..." Roxas replied as he bit into the bacon sandwich that came with the breakfast combo. Why the hell did they call it a combo when it's just a sandwich? "Well, let's take that as a good sign."

"Hm. Hey, just out of interest. You have any piercings?" Axel asked, tilting his head as he too bit into his sandwich. Roxas shook his head.

"I wouldn't mind getting my ears pierced, but it looks like it hurts."

Axel grinned at this and put his sandwich down and then reached towards the hair covering his ears. He pulled it back to reveal two red studs poking out of his ear. "It doesn't hurt that much, to be honest. You just have to wait a while and then they might as well not be there. Well, that's not true. You know what I mean."

Roxas nodded and swallowed. "Well, I dunno. Aren't earrings, like, expensive?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged.

"Depends. If you just get plain ones, then no, they don't cost that much. But they can get pricey, yeah." Axel looked at his watch. Good, still an hour left to talk with Roxas. And they did talk. After they finished their conversation and Axel had Roxas promise to get his ears pierced eventually, they talked about other things. Both of them liked it, too. But, the conversation eventually went a bit sour.

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"You know... alot of people know about you being bi."

"I know."

"I fell out with one of my friends because I was hanging around you. He's a big homophobe."

"Oh... Well, then... I don't want to pull you away from your friends."

"No, Axel. If he gets so tetchy over it, then maybe it's best I hang out with you more."

"Roxas..." There was an awkward silence. "Oh, look at the time. We'd best be headed towards the sk- the special place." Axel said as he stood up and put their rubbish in the bin. Roxas couldn't help but wonder why Axel kept saying 'the special place'. They headed back outside and got in the car. Axel then started driving somewhere Roxas had never really been before, so the scenery was unfamiliar with him.

"Where are we going, Axel?" Roxas asked. "I've never seen this place before."

"We're in Chimney Heights. If you just look straight ahead..." Axel trailed off as he grinned. Roxas squinted ahead and saw what appeared to be a skate park.

"A skate park? Is that the special place?"

"Yeah. It's special because it's where I first met Demyx, and some of my other friends. They're all gonna be here too, so you'd better be ready for a big... uh, welcome." Axel pulled up at the edge of the park and proceeded to lock the car. Roxas looked over the skate park. There were very few people there, and the people who were there crowded around a couple of benches in one corner. "There they all are." Axel said as he descended the large staircase that lead into the park.

The group of two that were down at the benches turned around, and one of them waved while the other just looked there way. "Hey, where's Zexxers?" Axel shouted over.

_Who the hell is Zexxers? These guys are insane... _Was what Roxas thought as soon as Axel shouted that. The two groups merged.

"Zexion decided to stay home. He was feeling ill, apparently. Hey, is that the Roxas kid?" A pink haired teen asked. He was wearing a pink hoodie to match, and some scuffed jeans. The other teen, Demyx, was wearing the same, excep this hoodie was striped black and white. He suddenly felt a bit out of place when he noticed Axel was wearing some skinny dark jeans and a hoodie, too. Roxas wasn't wearing... any of them. He shrugged it off.

"Yeah, that's Blondie. Say hi, Blondie! This is Marluxia," Axel said, pointing at Marluxia, "and you know Demyx already."

"Hi..." Was all Roxas could really say. He never was one to be good at socialising, and he wasn't very good with these guys, for some reason. Why did they all intimidate him? And that's when he realised. He wasn't used to being friends with these type of people. They were drastically differrent to Hayner, Pence, Ollete and Sora. They were different people. He was just out of his comfort zone when it came to friends.

"Not much of a talker? Sort of like Axel when I first me him." Marluxia said as he twirled a black skateboard. Demyx tutted.

"Don't be so mean, Marlers. Now, Roxas. Do you know how to skate?" Demyx asked. Roxas shook his head.

"Want to learn?"

"Isn't it... dangerous?" Roxas asked with a look of uncertainty on his face. Demyx laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose... but that's not going to stop me teaching you how. Come on, you're going to learn." And with that, Roxas' fate was sealed. He spent the next 2 hours with Demyx and Axel teaching him how to skate with Marluxia occasionaly making a smart-ass remark. In the end, Roxas managed to get a basic grasp on it, but came out with multiple bruises and cuts. He sat down on one of the benches and sighed.

"Jesus... that's... tiring... and it hurts..." He puffed out. Axel laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Ya get used to it. Look, let's just watch those guys do it. I'm pretty beat myself." Axel said as he sat down next to Roxas. While Roxas was watching the others do incredibly complex tricks and stunts, Axel noticed Roxas' hair. _Wow, he has good hair..._ Roxas turned around and was about to speak when his eyes met with Axel's. Neither of them turned away. Roxas blushed greatly, but he didn't look away. Axel was leaning in, and Roxas was about to, when Marluxia came upto them.

"Axel! Get here, now." He yelled as he didn't wait for Axel to obey, but instead grabbed his hood. Demyx was watching from afar with his hand covering his mouth. He pushed him over out of Roxas' hearing range. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know... He didn't-"

"That doesn't mean he likes you..." Marluxia said as Axel sighed.

"I know that, idiot. Let me go apologise." Axel said as he headed back over to the bench. Roxas had stood up and looked ready to leave. "Hey, where you going?"

"Home... I need to think."

"But you don't know this neighbourhood."

"I can remember how to get home. Bye." And with that, Roxas walked towards those stairs and was gone. Marluxia silently watched as Axel sat down.

On the way home, Roxas had a hard time thinking. _What the hell was that? Oh... God... I don't like Axel that way. We're just friends, right...? That was his fault. What just happened was hit fault._

"Hey, Roxas." A familiar voice called out from behind him. Roxas turned around to see... Hayner.

"What do you want?"

"I saw you down there with the fags."

"So? Stop calling them names."

"And I saw that you're turning into a fag, too." Hayner said, ignoring the 'name' request.

"Fuck off, Hayner. I need to think." _More..._

Yeah, whatever. You've already gone too far. You'll end up being gay too, if you aren't careful. I thought I could trust you, Roxas, but I was wrong." Hayner said with a cringe and a shake of his head before he walked off. Roxas was in a predicament. The rest of the way home, Roxas tried to formulate a plan. He decided he needed to make sure Axel knew they were just friends... and with that, Roxas entered his house and spent the rest of the night thinking about Axel... Because Axel was on his mind, and Axel was the only person he could really think about. He couldn't really get to sleep that night, but then Axel sent him a text.

'Roxas, i'm sorry about earlier. please dont be mad'

And Roxas smiled. He had to reply.

'it's fine. how about we meet up tommorow?'

And Axel replied...

'o, cool! where and when?'

And so did Roxas.

'My house... 10 AM.'

'great! see you tommorow blondie!'

Roxas smiled and flipped his mobile off. He put on the side of his dresser and snuggled into bed. Maybe he _did_ like Axel a bit... but he'd never admit it. Would he? Roxas knew that these past few days were the start of their friendship, and he hoped it would be a long one. What he didn't know was that they were the start of their relationship, and the start of something good.


	5. Warmth

**Author's Note: This chapter annoyed me. Because _somehow,_I deleted it, so had to rewrite it. It came out better the second time, though... And my space bar isn't working, so had to remap it... And as a result I typed alot slower. And am still. Anyway, enough with that. I'd like to say thanks to Sarie Bear, for reviewing every chapter so far. Thanks! Enjoy this chapter mateys, it's dramarific and very... foreshadowing... LINE BREAKS! YAY! BASE BASE !REVIEW! BASE**

* * *

Roxas woke up on Sunday morning and remained motionless on his bed for a few minutes before finally deciding to tumble out of bed. He checked the clock to see the time was... 7:00AM. What was it with him and waking up early lately? He opened his curtains to be greeted by a blinding ray of sun. He promptly closed them again and decided to open them later. Just as he was about to open his door and go do his morning stuff, his phone rang a few times. Roxas picked it up to see he had received a new text message. He opened it to see it was from Axel...

'hey blondie! i got tired of waiting so i'm coming over at 7:30 instead. see you soon.' Roxas opened his mouth slightly in disbelief. Just how impatient was this guy? And how early did he wake up? Roxas put his phone back down and sighed. It was now 7:05. He went over to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and then went downstairs to have his breakfast. He then went back up to get changed. He decided to wear a red hoodie and some worn out jeans. After all that, it was a few minutes until Axel's arrival, so he wrote a note for his mum and Sora. He left it on the table and as if on cue, he heard a car pull up outside. Roxas headed outside, slipping on his trainers as he went.

He was greeted with the sight of Axel leaning on the side of his car, staring of into the distance. His attention turned back to reality as soon a he heard Roxas' footsteps coming towards him. "Blondie!" Axel called, despite the fact he was practically infront of him.

"Hi, Axel..." He said, delibaratelyvtrying to sound annoyed. Axel caught onto it as he opened the car door and unlocked Roxas' side. Both of them climbed in.

"Is something up, Rox?" Axel asked as he lit the ignition. Roxas laughed.

"Not... really, I was just wondering why you wanted to wake me up so early." Roxas said with a touch of sarcasm as Axel pulled out and started heading off.

"Oh, sorry... I just... uh... have no patience. At all. Besides, we want to get to where we're going early." Axel replied as he stopped at a red light. The roads were pretty busy, and so early on.

"Where are we going, by the way?"

"Ah... we're going shopping." Axel said with a smirk.

"Shopping? I didn't bring any money!" Roxas cried out as Axel chuckled.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, blondie. I'll pay for whatever you want." Roxas couldn't believe what he had just heard. Some guy he knew for about a week was willing to spend loads of money on him?

"No way, Axel. You don't have-"

"I insist." Axel cut in. Roxas scoffed.

"Fine, but I'm paying you back... Where are we going to shop, anyway?"

"Yeah, ok. We're going to the new shopping center at Plaza Town." Axel said. Yeah, he wouldn't let Roxas pay him back.

"Oh... I heard that place is massive." And that explained the bad traffic... It looks like everyone thought getting there early would make things easier. Looks like it was going to be hard to find a parking space. When they arrived, their fears were confirmed. It took ages to find a parking space, but they did find one eventually. The two of them got out of the car, Axel locking it. The place was huge. The building itself was massive, despite the fact the majority of the shops were underground. The building was a large blindingly white square with a large glass dome on the top where you could sight see over the massive lake behind and the scenery that lied beyond the car park.

When they entered the building, they saw that it was indeed absolutely packed. They manouvered their way through the crowd and onto one of the escalators going down, and Axel immediately saw a shop he wanted to go in.

* * *

30 minutes later...

"Axel, come on! You've been trying on clothes for ages!" Roxas cried out in exasperation as he leaned on the wall next to the changing cubicle, holding at least 7 articles of clothing and multiple accessories such as wristbands.

"Just a minute!" Axel responded, and true to his word he came out a minute later. "Right, let's go pay..." It took a while to get to the till, because the waiting line was massive due to the large amount of people shopping. When they finally got to the till, Roxas couldn't believe it. They'd only been there for about 35 minutes and Axel had spent 80 munny. Roxas even noticed that Axel hadn't tried on some of the clothes.

"Axel, you know that you forgot to try some of these on?" Roxas said as they walked back out into the crowd. Axel nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"I know. That's because they're for you." Roxas frowned. "They should fit you."

"Axel, how are you supposed to know what fits me?" Roxas said, but he was astonished when he saw they did fit him. "... Thanks." Roxas muttered as he stared up at Axel. Axel smiled and turned around.

"It's fine... Hey, look. It's that shop that sells those great cookies. Let's go get some." Axel said with obvious glee as he rushed over to the shop. Roxas followed. They spent the next hour or so looking around random shops, Axel buying things here and there.

On the way to the middle of the shopping centre, where they were going to have a rest before they probably headed on home, Axel saw a piercing shop. "Hey, blondie, remember when you promised me you'd get a piercing?" Axel said as he suddenly stopped. Roxas looked over to the shop and sighed.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean this soon..."

Eventually, they headed over to the centre of the building where a beautiful fountain was, surrounded by benches. How romantic... The two of them sat down. They began to eat the cookies they bought earlier, with Axel telling Roxas that when they've done he's got a suprise shop to take him to. Meanwhile, Axel told Roxas about how he met his friends.

* * *

_Axel was wandering around this news school, trying to find where his next class was. He was about to give up when he heard a friendly enough voice from behind him. He turned around to see a blonde boy his age smiling brightly at him. "Hey! You look a bit lost. Need help?" The boy asked._

_"Yeah... I'm looking for... Mr. Cross' class." Axel replied slowly. He wasn't too good with new people, but he had his reasons. The other boy immediately replied._

_"Oh, I was just heading over there! Come on." He said, as Axel followed. The blonde boy introduced himself as Demyx, an avid musician and sports player. Axel introduced himself in turn, and after the class was over, Axel started hanging around Demyx. He was his first true friend. Shortly afterwards, Axel met Marluxia, due to the fact that he was already friends with Demyx. Axel was slightly surprised and amused when he met Marluxia in all his pink glory._

_"Hey, you must be Axel. Demyx has been wanting to introduce us for a while." Marluxia said as he looked at Axel's hair. Surely, he didn't think Axel's hair was odd?_

_"Hi..." Axel muttered, making Marluxia raise an eyebrow._

_"Something you want to say?" Axel just had to ask._

_"Is that you're natural hair colour?" Axel asked, making Marluxia laugh. _

_"No, it's naturally brown. Don't ask why it's pink. While we're on this subject, is your hair that colour naturally?"_

_"Ah, no. It's blonde. I-" Axel was interrupted by Demyx, who had been watching from afar._

_"That's enough, boys. We've got classes to go to!" Demyx announced, and Axel looked at his watch. He was right. They seperated, heading to their respective classes._

Axel also began to talk about a new name to Roxas, Zexion, but they were interrupted by an unpleasent and unexpected suprise. Hayner, and what appeared to be his new friends. _'This must be that dickhead Hayner..._' Axel thought as he saw Roxas' expressions as the new people approached.

"Ah, Roxas, hanging out with the faggot." Hayner chided, chuckling slightly at Axel having to be held back by Roxas.

"You little punk..." Axel growled. Roxas shook his head.

"Hayner, what do you want? Shouldn't you be with Pence and Olette?" Roxas asked. He didn't include Namine in that because she was slightly more detached from the group. Hayner put his hand to his chin. He was followed by 2 other guys. One looked rather gruff, with short, almost bald hair. He was pretty intimidating. The other one was the opposite. He had long, shiny blonde hair, and Roxas had to admit, he was pretty good looking.

"Oh, those two? Ditched 'em. They kept going on at me, saying how I should get off your back, and that the situation will 'resolve itself'." Hayner said, while Roxas and Axel listened in disbelief at how casual Hayner was being about it.

"You... what?"

"Yeah, and I started hanging around with these guys. There's more of us, too... But they're somewhere else." Hayner turned to Axel. "Hey, gay boy! Look at how much trouble you've caused for poor Roxas! I suppose you're gonna go-" Hayner didn't finish the sentence, because he'd been lunged at by Axel and sent sprawling onto the floor. Roxas cried out in suprise and got down to stop Axel, while the two who were previously with Axel legged it into the crowd. But while Roxas was trying to stop Axel by grabbing his arms, he suddenly stopped and fell limp. Roxas caught him in his arms, and Hayner fled in a random direction. Roxas didn't know which, and he didn't care, because he was too busy trying to make Axel do something.

"Axel? Wake up!" Roxas said in desperation, and he was fighting to hold back tears. He was genuinely scared for Axel, even if it was something small, for all he knew. He didn't notice the crowd rapidly growing larger, he was too busy.

"Someone get help!"

"Somebody call an ambulance." Almost immediately, 3 men came pushing through the crowd, 2 of them carrying a stretcher. The one not carrying the stretcher bent down so he was level with Roxas and Axel.

"Do you know him?" He asked, and Roxas nodded his head in reply. "Ok, you come with us in the ambulance. We understand there was a fight, so the police might want to speak to you as well. But first we need to focus on the problem at hand." They transferred Axel to the stretcher and used the lift to get back to the surface, Roxas following and using the escalator to free up space in the lift. They climbed into the back of the ambulance and immediately they were driving towards the nearest hospital. While they were checking to see what might be wrong, one of them was asking Roxas questions.

"What's the boy's name?"

"... Axel."

"Ok. How old is he?" Roxas was slightly appalled at himself when he said he wasn't sure. He asked a few questions he knew answers to, but mostly, he didn't know much. When they got to the hospital, Roxas was told to sit in the waiting area until Axel was ready for anyone to see him. Roxas was told he could phone anyone that knew Axel, or any relatives, but he didn't know any numbers. He did, however, text Sora to say he wouldn't be back for a while.

* * *

Demyx sat in the director's chair facing the table with a hand of cards, leaning back and smirking. Looked like a decent hand. Marluxia sat opposite him, raising an eyebrow at Demyx's cockiness. A boy with purple coloured hair also sat there, having been forced to play. He didn't really show much of a game face, he just cringed.

"I _am _going to wipe that smirk off your face, Demyx." Marluxia said, eyeing Demyx. Demyx tutted.

"You're being cocky, Marlers. Okay, show hands." Demyx said, adding quite alot of enthusiasm to the last part. Demyx's hand was good... But he groaned in disbelief when Marluxia's hand was better. "Aww, you won?!" Demyx cried out.

"Actually... I think you both lost." The other boy said slowly, being a bit unsure himself. Both Marluxia and Demyx groaned in disbelief when they saw he was right.

"Great, Zexion won..." Demyx said as he went to the fridge. He rooted around it abit before speaking. "Anyone want some cold pizza?"

After a while of eating pizza and drinking various non-alcoholic beverages, along with talking about random drivel, Marluxia decided to bring up a fairly important matter. "Has anyone noticed Axel acting different recently?" He said, while Demyx thought a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. It's ever since Roxas came along." Demyx pointed out. Zexion frowned.

"Who's Roxas?" He asked, tilting his head. Demyx decided to answer this one.

"He's this guy Axel met about a week ago. I'm pretty sure he's smitten with him." Demyx grinned. Marluxia grinned as well.

"Wow. I have to meet him if he's this good." Zexion said. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"You really think those two'll get together, Marlers?"

"I think so. It's more subtle with Roxas, but you can tell he's interested in Axel. Just give it time..."

"Yeah... They make a good couple." Demyx finished just as Zexion came back in. "Hey Zex, we can introduce you to him at school tomorrow."

"Oh, that's great."

"Anyways, let's go play Street Fighter." Demyx said happily as he headed through the nearest door into the cosy living room.

"Something else I can beat you at!" Marluxia yelled as they all sat down to play it. Except Zexion, of course.

* * *

Roxas checked the time on his phone... 2:30PM... Already. Time had gone so slow in the hours that had passed since the incident at the shopping centre. It was roughly 3PM when Roxas was allowed to see Axel. He stepped through the door quietly. One of his first thoughts was '_why isn't there anyone here, like parents?'._

Roxas took a seat next to Axel's bed and looked at him. He looked so peaceful, just laying there, breathing steadily in and out... Roxas was almost entranced. He snapped out of whatever he was in when a doctor walked into the room to check Axel. "We concluded that he passed out from stress... and the fact the he was lightly stabbed didn't help. The boy he was fighting must have had a knife. It didn't go deep, though. He should be fine, but he will be in here overnight." The doctor explained, saying he'd be back in about an hour as he exited. Roxas couldn't believe it. His former best friend had _stabbed_ Axel. This was unforgivable. It was clear now that any chance of the two of them making up and being friends again was gone. _'I'm staying with him overnight, then. Forget everything else...'_

Roxas spent all night next to Axel, watching him, dozing off now and again. Not once did he get bored, though. He was waiting for Axel to wake up. Every so often the doctor would come in to check Axel and Roxas would inform him of any changes. When it reached 9PM, Roxas was both mentally and physically exhausted. He slowly lowered his head so it was on the bed, next to Axel's arm. He could literally feel the warmth from him. That was the great thing about this hospital... there were no visiting hours. Roxas fell to sleep a few minutes later, oblivious to everything else in the world. What was most important was that Axel was safe. _'Maybe I do like him... abit... somewhat...' _were Roxas' last thoughts before he joined Axel in sleep.


	6. Suprising offers so soon?

**Author's Note: Longest chapter yet! This is also, in my opinion, the best chapter yet. You'll have to read it to find out why. Oh... and there will be more SoraxRiku in the future. This chapter was meant to focus on Axel and Roxas. Anyway, enjoy this great chapter! Because it's just grrrrrreat! And so are your reviews, they're just as grrrrrrrreat!**

* * *

Roxas had a bad night. He didn't once wake up, but he had nightmares. He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of a machine whirring. He looked around for a moment before lifting his head from the bed that was next to him. He immediately looked down to Axel, who was staring up at him with a bemused smile on his face. Roxas frowned at him. "Thank god you're awake..." Roxas half breathed half-spoke as he smiled.

"Hm. You scared me when I woke up." Axel said as he turned to look at the window.

"How?" Roxas asked, although he was expecting a certain answer.

"Because when I woke up I had a sweaty head resting on my arm. Surely if you put yourself in my position you can see where I'm coming from..." Axel spoke with an air of amusement. That was the thing with Axel. No matter what, he was always speaking like he was amused. That answer wasn't what Roxas was expecting, anyway.

"Oh. I'm sorry... I-"

"Doesn't matter. I thought it was cute, anyway." Axel cut in. Roxas blushed slightly, making Axel smile when he turned back to Roxas. "So. You're mum and you're... cousin, is it? Well, they're here. They went to get some coffee."

"Ah, really? I told Sora I was here, but they probably got worried when I didn't get home..." Roxas trailed off, suddenly remembering it was Monday. He dug through his pocket for his phone to check the time...

"What time is it?" Axel asked, obviously thinking the same as Roxas.

"It's... 10 to 9." After Roxas spoke, the two were quiet for a few minutes. Eventually, Roxas piped up again. "Axel, just... what happened at the shopping center?" Axel was thinking about that himself.

"I dunno, I just lost control..." Axel said, suddenly turning alot more defensive and quiet. Roxas waited a moment before continuing.

"Axel, the doctor said you passed out from stress, you know. And that Hayner stabbed you. Were you stressed before that fight?" Roxas asked. Axel hesitated. He had a troubled look on his face, which made Roxas begin to wonder slightly.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Blondie... I was just fairly stressed out from... revising. For tests... Hey, that Hayner is one big dick." Axel said confidently, nodding to confirm what he had just said. That didn't add up in Roxas' head, because as far as he knew it wasn't normal for people to revise at 7o'clock in the morning... But he decided to let it slide, as Axel most likely didn't need this right now, seeing as he'd been in hospital.

"You got that right... Hey, Axel, what was that special shop you wanted to take me to?" Roxas asked, the thought having just popped into his mind.

"Well, it's still a suprise. You won't be finding out until we're in there." Axel smirked. Roxas frowned and was about to reply, but they were interrupted by the door opening. Roxas' mum walked in, Sora following a second later with a cup of coffee in hand. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Hideki." Axel greeted.

"Oh, so you've already introduced yourselves, I see..." Roxas said as his brother grinned at him. "What's so amusing?"

Sora laughed and nearly spilled some of the coffee contained within the thin white plastic cup. "Oh, nothing really. It just looked so gay when you were sleeping!" Roxas blushed and looked at the floor, while Axel just snorted.

"Sora, I expect better behaviour from you." Their mum scolded, but to be honest, Mum had no authority when it came to Sora and Roxas. "Anyway, the doctor says he'll be coming in in a few minutes to let you out. So, we'll be waiting outside, ok?" Axel nodded as the three of them left the room, and the doctor entered a second later. Their mum went to sit down, but Sora pulled Roxas aside.

"Roxas. What's happened between you and Hayner?" Sora asked in his own demanding voice.

"Well... Hayner started getting all mad when I started hanging around Axel. Says I shouldn't do it because... well, because he's a homophobe." Roxas explained. Sora looked to the side and sighed a little.

"Is that... really why? Maybe I should tell him about me and Riku, then..." Sora said slowly. Roxas shook his head. Sora's honesty would be his downfall. Even knowing the consequences, he'd tell the complete truth, even if he didn't need to.

"Sora, he's already gone too far. He ditched Pence and Olette, and as much as it pains me to say this, he probably doesn't give a rats ass about you." Roxas had to take a breather after saying that. "Besides, if you do, rumours might start spreading." Sora put on a weak smile.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right... So! Do you fancy Axel?" Sora said teasingly, landing a soft punch on his shoulder. Roxas always thought it was amazing how his attitude could just go from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds.

Roxas blushed, turning away. "N-no. I already told you, I'm not gay..."

"Ok, ok... He is pretty hot, though. Don't tell Riku I said that. But really, you don't like him one bit?"

Roxas grinned and stopped to consider his answer. "I don't like him like that. He might be... slightly... prett- no, um..." Sora laughed at his brother who was stumbling for words.

"Ok, Rox. Whatever you say..." Sora said as he walked off to sit down. Roxas remained stood up where he was, thinking, until Axel came out a few minutes later. The doctor said a few things to him and then said he was free to go.

"Well, since you've all missed enough school to not really go back today, we don't we all go to our house?" Their mum said as she stood up, grabbing her bag from the side of her chair. Everybody agreed rather enthusiastically.

"Well, actually, I was wondering... Could I stay with you tonight?" Axel asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't see why not..." Mum said, not being able to help wondering why. Nobody really thought to ask though, because for all they knew, it might well be something personal. "Well, then, let's get out of this depressing place." They all left the hospital, and somehow crammed themselves into the small family car. Sora was in the front with Mum, while Axel and Roxas were in the back.

"Axel," Roxas started, turning his head to face him, "won't you need anything from your house?" Axel shook his head with suprising enthusiasm.

"N- no. I'll be fine..." He said, looking out of the window beside him. There was something odd going on, and Roxas knew it. He made up his mind to ask Demyx if he knew anything tomorrow at school. Out of Axel's earshot, of course. When they finally arrived home, Mum went into the kitchen and immediately switched on the kettle. Axel wasn't exactly very shy. Most people would stand in the doorway or something, but Axel, no. He just followed her straight in. Probably scavenging for food, no doubt. Roxas plonked onto the sofa, followed by Sora who did the exact same. Roxas could hear Axel talking with their mum.

"So, Rox..." Sora said, his hands placed on his stomach. "Did Axel tell you why he wanted to stay here tonight?"

"No. I asked him if he needed anything from home, but he seemed to want to make it quite clear he didn't... I dunno, Sora, there is something going on. It seems like he keeps making excuses to get away from his house..." Roxas said, trying to think why he might be so afraid of his own home. Sora rubbed his chin in thought.

"Maybe he's being abused?" Sora suggested, but Roxas shook his head.

"I doubt it... I've never seen anything that might suggest that. Did you notice that there were no parents there or anything?" Roxas asked his brother, who nodded. After that, they shut up for a bit and dropped the subject.

* * *

Demyx was walking over to the tree's where they usually went to at break times, accompanied by Zexion. Demyx had been meaning to ask Zexion why he was a goth, because he was, but he never dared to in case he exploded. Zexion looked meek on the outside, but he was like a ticking time bomb on the inside. Although he didn't wear clothes to suggest he was a goth at school, the black nail polish and make up was a dead giveaway. "Hey, I wonder why Axel isn't here today?" Demyx asked, which for some reason made Zexion chew the skin above his index finger, making Demyx cringe slightly.

"You don't think it's-"

"I hope not. We should go round to check tonight. Look through a window or something... Actually, Rox isn't here either, is he? I'll call him." Demyx said in rapid succession as he dialed Roxas' number. "Hi, Rox, do you know where Axel is? He what?! So he's with you? He's staying the night? OK, we'll have to talk. Thanks. Bye." Demyx put his phone back in his pocket. "Axel got into a fight at the new shopping center with one of Roxas'... old friends. He got stabbed, too, but he's fine now. He's staying with Roxas tonight."

Zexion gasped slightly. "He got stabbed...?"

"It was only a shallow cut. He's fine now."

"Ok... Why is he staying at Roxas' house?" Zexion asked.

"Not a clue... I reckon he's hiding out there." Demyx sighed out.

"I hope not. One day, we're going to have to do something, you know."

"I know. But Axel already said he doesn't want to..."

* * *

Sora stood up all off a sudden, startling Roxas. "Let's go see Riku!" He cried out, smiling to himself.

"Err, Sora, won't he be at school?" Roxas said with an air of arrogance. Sora shook his head vigorously.

"No, dummy! His school got the day off today! Axel can come, too!" Sora said as he darted off into the hallway. As if on cue, Axel came out of the kitchen.

"Your mum overheard you. She says if we're going to see Sora's... friend, we have to make sure nobody sees us." Axel said as he frowned and itched his cheek. Roxas slowly got up from the sofa with a sigh.

"Why?"

"Probably because some smart ass coppers'll try to stop us and ask why we're not at school... You know, I shouldn't go, really. The doctor told me I need to rest. Do you mind if I use your computer?" Axel asked as he looked around the room from where he stood.

"Sure, it's in my room upstairs. Second door to the left. Just use my profile." Roxas nodded as he brushed past Axel to go after Sora. Axel smiled and then headed up the stairs as well. Roxas was sat on Sora's bed, watching his cousin decide what to wear.

"Sora, you're only going to see your boyfriend. You're not going to a fancy dinner party." Roxas said as he watched Sora try on multiple different shirts to see if they matched his jeans.

"Yeah, well, I want to look good for him. You know, yesterday, he suggested I go goth." Sora said, finally settling on a black shirt with no particular design on it. Roxas' eyes widened at the thought of a goth Sora. He had to fight back a laugh.

"Err... Yeah. Axel says he isn't coming because the doctor told him he had to rest today." Roxas explained as he watched Sora grab his phone and stuff it in his pocket.

"Oh, that's a shame. I wanted him to meet Riku... Shall we go?" Sora said as he pulled on his jacket. Roxas followed him out of the house, not bothering to check on Axel. Maybe he was looking at something private. They shouted their goodbyes to the house and it was a 10 minute walk to Riku's. Riku lived in what most people called the 'posh' part of their area, mainly because all of the houses were detached, had acres of garden space and had atleast 2 massive floors. Ok, no doubt about it, it was the posh place. Whenever Roxas met Riku though, he seemed so out of place. He's not a posh person.

Sora happily skipped up the long driveway, Roxas closing the gate behind them. _'I'm surprised they don't have guards, too...' _Roxas thought as he started jogging after Sora to keep up. "God... You could have waited, Sora..." Roxas said, slightly out of breath. Sora chuckled as he knocked on the door. A second later, a boy answered the door. A stunning, beautiful boy. Well, in Sora's opinion. He had pretty long silver hair, with eyes that looked like the sea itself. He smiled as he hugged Sora. This was Riku.

"Sora, why're you here?" Riku asked with a bemused tone as he let them in. The entry room was fairly big, with a staircase heading up to the second floor. The room had a very regal feel to it, mainly due to the high amount of red used around the place and the decorations around the place.

"Because we had to go to the hospital-"

"Why, did you get hurt?" Riku butted in, making Sora smile.

"No. A friend did, but he's fine. Anyway, our mum didn't see the point in going to school, so here we are. Bored." Sora explained as he followed Riku up the stairs, Roxas trailing behind them, looking a bit bored. Riku eventually stopped walking through what seemed like a maze of hallways until he reached a normal looking door. He opened it to reveal a clean, tidy, spacious room. It was extremely blue, with one wall being painted cream instead. He had a desk with a fairly powerful looking computer on it, and the walls were covered with paintings and shelves were dotted around with various collectible things on them.

Roxas sighed as he tried to avoid watching Sora and Riku have a rather passionate- and furious kiss. Roxas decided to walk out onto the balcony- yes, Riku had a balcony. A few minutes later, Sora called him back in. Roxas turned to see Sora leaning over Riku who was sat at the computer. Roxas slid the door aside and walked in. "What is it?" Roxas asked as he too took a look at the screen.

**'Murderous man still on the loose'**

**'The mysterious grey haired man who has recently gone on a murderous rampage at Radiant Garden University is still on the loose. Police have made a statement saying they have pinpointed the murderers location, but when raided the area was empty but for a single note, which apparently read; 'Get me a car part.' Police are currently baffled as to the meaning of this cryptic message, and are currently stuck on making progress into this case.'**

Sora shook his head and scoffed. "Geez, what a looney... Get me a car part? What the hell is that all about?"

Riku nodded in agreement as Roxas just folded his arms in thought. Sora had somehow trailed off into talking romantic drivel with Riku. About an hour later, an hour of almost boredom for Roxas, except for when he had to fend off various taunts from Sora and Riku, they decided to leave. Riku mentioned something about seeing Sora later, Roxas was already down the drive. "Bye, you two!" Riku called out as he slammed the door. The two of them decided to take the same route home, so it was an uneventful walk. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen. Upon arrival at home, their mum called out something about tea being nearly ready. Sora ran off to see what it was, and Roxas climbed the stairs to check on Axel. He opened the door but slowed down slightly when he saw Axel asleep on his bed. Roxas smiled before going over to his side. He didn't look peaceful this time, unlike when he was in hospital. He looked disturbed.

Roxas went over to the computer to switch it off, taking a look at what was on the screen before he did.

**'****Murderous man still on the loose'**

Roxas stared at the screen for a moment before shutting the power off. He walked back over to Axel's side. "Axel?" Roxas whispered, going down to his knees and placing a hand on Axel's head. Subconsciously, he started to stroke it, ignoring the fact it was getting pretty greasy. Axel's face scrunched up slightly and Roxas stopped stroking his hair.

"... You're so sneaky, Roxas..." Axel said as he slowly sat up and grinned. Roxas blushed and looked away.

"IT'S READY!!" Mum called from downstairs, the smell of fish climbing up the stairs. They went down to see Tuna Pasta Bake. They spent the rest of the night in Sora's room playing games, mainly because Mum wanted to watch all her boring programs on TV.

"Hahaha, Axel, you're so rubbish at this." Sora teased as Axel pushed him.

"I dunno why, me and my friends play Street Fighter all the time..." Axel said as he did some insanely complicated button combination. Sora's face dropped upon seeing his character fall. "Hehehe. In your face, Sora." Axel gloated as he put the controller down.

"Shut up... Hey, you're not playing?" Sora asked as he watched Axel drop the controller. All this time, Roxas was on Sora's bed staring at the ceiling.

"No... Can I smoke?" Axel asked.

"Well, we don't have a problem with it, but mum does. She's very anti-smoking." Sora explained. Axel sighed.

"Okay then. Well, I'm really tired. Night." Axel said as he left the room, Sora wishing his good night. Roxas followed suit soon after, leaving Sora to pout to himself. He ended up phoning Riku. Roxas had insisted Axel take his bed, much to Axel's distaste, since he wanted Roxas to be comfortable. But Roxas insisted and Axel gave up. Roxas fell asleep on the floor next to Axel, in his small makeshift bed. A few hours later, at about what must have been 12AM, Roxas woke up all of a sudden and began to shiver.

"Roxas?" Axel whispered from up on the bed.

"Y-yeah?" Roxas replied, teeth chattering slightly. It wasn't helping that he was only wearing his boxers.

"Come into bed." Roxas' eyes widened slightly at the suggestion just made by Axel. Instinct told him to decline the offer, but it was just too tempting to say no... And not because of the warmth the bed would provide...

"You sure...?"

"Yes." Axel responded. Roxas stood up and looked at Axel. Axel was staring at the almost naked Roxas' body. Roxas blushed furiously and Axel laughed, but Roxas climbed in next to him a few moments later. Roxas fell asleep with his head buried in Axel's chin and his arms wrapped around Axel. Axel fell asleep with one arm draped over Roxas. They didn't wake up again that night.


	7. Good Night, Sleep Tight

**_Author's Note_: Sorry it took so long for me to release this chapter. Between reading an excellent fic I found and hatching plans for a new story, this took a while to write. At one point I thought I'd lost it all, too. Anyway, My new aim for each chapter is at least 4K words. Yay for me. Enjoy this chapter, and make sure to review, it really inspires me to write more knowing I have people who enjoy this fic.**

* * *

_Roxas was stood in a dark, gloomy hallway. All he could see ahead of him was… inky blackness._

_He slowly stepped forward, flinching when he heard the floorboard underneath him creak. "Where the hell am I?!" Roxas shouted into the apparently empty house. He saw a door to his right. Carefully and slowly opening it, he peered inside to see a cream blanket on the floor, stained with blood. A butcher's knife lay on top of it, the whole room given an eerie and terrifying atmosphere by the dim, flickering light illuminating it. The whole room was bare but for these few objects._

_Roxas closed the door almost instantly upon seeing the knife and the blood surrounding it. "Where… Am I…" Roxas started to whimper. He slowly turned around to see if there was a door where he entered, but was greeted by a bare wall. He edged further and further down the hallway, until he reached the foot of the stairs. Seeing there was nothing else to do but continue on… He slowly climbed the stairs._

_There was a door open opposite Roxas with a slither of light escaping from the room. Roxas crept towards it, trying to stay silent but being unable to cover the occasional sob or whimper. Suddenly, as he was a few steps from the door, he got a horrible feeling of absolute dread and irrational fear. Nevertheless, he inched closer. When he reached the door, he could hair a faint voice…_

"_See… this is what happens… foolish boy… oh, it looks like your cute little friend has decided to join us…" The voice that those words came out of was horribly calm, and Roxas knew that the voice would not match the person who it belonged to. For some reason, Roxas didn't flee. He was paralysed with fear. Besides, where would he run to? Some empty room where he could be backed into a corner?_

_The door was flung wide open, a man with dull grey hair appearing on the other side. He grabbed Roxas around the neck and flung him into the room. Roxas landed on the floor with a massive thud. He could feel blood coming from somewhere on the side of his head, because unfortunately this floor was made of stone. Cold, hard stone. Roxas turned his now throbbing head around. He saw a familiar face that donned a head of shocking read hair, with beautiful green eyes that were barely open. That face was made ugly with the occasional spot of blood here and there._

_Roxas tried to get up and help him, but was sent back down to the floor with a forceful kick. "I don't think so, pretty boy. You're joining this pitiful scumbag." The grey haired man spat with pure malice in his voice. He picked up a can of… something and started to send the liquid inside all over the place, all around the two boys…Axel, that was the other boy's name… _

"_Why… why are you doing this…?" Roxas coughed out weakly. The man just laughed and started to pour the liquid over them._

"_Because you deserve it." Was all he said before he threw the can to the side and pulled a match out of his pocket. He lit it and then stared at the two boys for a minute before throwing the match onto the… oil? Fire surrounded the boys and the figure of the man disappeared._

"_No… Axel… Axel!"_

* * *

"Blondie...Roxas!"

Roxas opened his eyes suddenly and tried to calm his rapid breathing. Axel towered over him, looking into his face. A smile replaced the worried look on his face when he saw the younger boy wake up. "Jeez, Blondie… You were shouting my name at the top of your voice." Axel said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. For a moment he wondered why Axel was there, but then he remembered the events that took place the previous day.

"I had a nightmare…" Roxas groaned as he sat up slowly. Axel grinned.

"So that's why you were kicking so much…" He said as he sat up from the bed and walked over to Roxas' side.

"What are you talking about? How do you… Oh." Roxas recalled himself getting into bed with Axel. Due to how cold it was, of course… Yeah, right. He turned away from Axel so as to protect his now red face from Axel's vision.

"Yeah… Anyway, you've got school in half an hour. You need to get ready… Oh, and your mum made pancakes." Axel said as he headed to towards the hallway. Roxas pushed the duvet aside and sat on the edge of the bed where Axel had been.

"Wait, what d'you mean 'you'? Aren't you going to school?"

"No, doctor said I have to rest today… Too bad, eh?" Axel said, chuckling, and then leaving to go downstairs. Wow, he sure made himself at home. Roxas hurriedly got dressed into a red hoodie and some light jeans and then headed down after him. When he entered the Living Room he saw Sora watching some cartoon on TV. Sora bolted up when he saw Roxas enter the room and leaned in on him.

"Roxasss!" Sora said in a sing song voice, grinning wildly. Roxas frowned and recoiled slightly.

"Yesssss?" Roxas replied, imitating Sora's tone.

"Did anything happen between you and our lovely guest Axel last night?" Sora asked him, still using the sing song voice… Roxas regarded him for a moment before deciding to tell him a lie. He wasn't going to say, 'Sora, I shared a bed with Axel last night.'

"No, silly. I slept on the floor last night." Roxas replied, brushing past Sora but freezing when he pointed out his blaring mistake.

"What made you think I was talking about where you slept?" Sora had a massive grin on his face which normally signalled that he was triumphant. Roxas just stared at him for a moment until the kitchen door opening broke the silence. Axel stepped out, a cup of coffee in his hand. Roxas was unbelievably relieved. Sora just took Axel's place in the kitchen.

"Ah, Blondie. Your mum says your pancakes are going cold. I'd get your arse in gear if I were you." Axel said, making sure to ruffle Roxas' bed head. Roxas didn't really care, seeing as it was messed up anyway. He was about to follow Sora into the kitchen, but stopped.

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"…Doesn't matter."

* * *

"Sora, I _will _leave without you." Roxas warned his brother. Well, they weren't actually brothers, but the bond they shared was so strong they may as well be. They protected each other and they never argued for very long.

"Jeez, Rox, just a minute!" Sora cried while he rummaged through one of his drawers. Roxas was leaning against the side of the doorway, fiddling with one of the zips on his bag. Once again, Sora had lost his oh so precious necklace given to him by Riku. "Aha, found it!" Sora yelled triumphantly, and with that they set off from school, shouting a goodbye to their mother. Axel waved them off from the door.

"Sora, why did you insist on wearing that today anyway?" Roxas asked out of boredom.

"What, I'm not allowed to wear a piece of jewellery my boyfriend gave me?" Sora asked, frowning as he twirled the said jewellery around in between his fingers. It was in the shape of a crown, and was still as shiny as the day he got it.

"Well… yeah, but couldn't you have found it at a time other than right before school?" Roxas retorted as they turned the corner and school came into sight a few minutes away.

"Oh, shut it… Anyway, now Axel's not here, how about you answer the question from earlier?" Sora said playfully, nudging Roxas' shoulder. Roxas closed his eyes for a moment, opening them again when he nearly walked onto the road.

"I… just assumed that's what you meant, because… that's… what people do… err…" Roxas muttered this, pushing Sora when he noticed him grinning.

"Alright, I'll let you off the hook this time…" Sora said, drawing the conversation to a close. They said their goodbyes at the entrance to school. It was strange, now… There was no group of friends to greet. Sora said he was going to start hanging around Riku more. Hayner...pfft. Namine, Pence and Olette… He wasn't sure. Maybe they got new friends. Roxas didn't blame them. Ever since he met Axel, they all sort of drifted away from each other. He didn't blame Axel for that, either. He must have been pretty forgiving today. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for his other friends today. Not that he saw them.

Roxas' first two lessons went surprisingly slow, especially since he was lacking the company of Axel in Science. He was relieved when it was finally time for break. It was now routine for him to go to the cluster of trees where Axel and his friends met up. He was pretty surprised when he arrived to see Sora and Riku, alongside Demyx and one boy he didn't know.

"Sora? Riku? What are you doing here?" Roxas asked as he approached the group. Riku was the one to answer.

"More like what are you doing here. Since when do you guys know Roxas here?" Riku said, directing that at the other two. Demyx told them about how Riku was a good friend of theirs, and that he normally hung around with them. He'd just been busy of late, and wasn't around much. He then went on to explain about how Roxas had entered their group. "Ah, I see. So, I'll be seeing a lot more of you, eh, Roxas?"

"I guess you will… Does this mean Sora's going to be around here too?" Roxas asked.

"Oh, I will! It's… not like I have anywhere else to go, anyway…"

"Hey, we're going to go… talk." Riku said, leading his brunette boyfriend over to the nearest tree. Yeah, _talking._

"So you're the infamous Roxas Daisuke?" Zexion blurted out of the blue. Roxas nodded his head in reply.

"And you're… Zexion?" Roxas hazarded a guess. He remembered Demyx telling him about Zexion once before.

"Indeed, I am. I've been told a lot about you."

"What? From who?" Roxas asked, looking over to where Sora and Riku were sat. He noticed Sora and Riku had gone over to sit under some tree, and were now talking quietly while getting _extremely _close to one another.

"Demyx… and Axel. Axel more than Demyx, really." Zexion explained, Roxas nodding his head in understanding. They stood quiet for a moment before Demyx had an outburst.

"Oh my god! I nearly forgot! Roxas, you're coming swimming with us tonight."

"I am, am I?"

"Yeah, you sure are. And so is Sora, and Riku, and Zexion… and me… oh, and Axel, too!" Oh, great. Excellent. He was going swimming with _Axel. _And that meant him being almost naked… He didn't realise he'd been stood in silence thinking about it for quite a while.

"Roxas?" Demyx said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You spaced out there. It's time for class already. Sora and Riku are already gone."

"Oh… Right, ok." Roxas replied, saying his goodbyes to Zexion and Demyx before leaving for his next class. Oh, this was going to be very interesting…

* * *

Roxas came out of his last lesson, sighing in relief. Religious Education, one of the most hated lessons in the school. He started walking towards the gates, hoping Sora would be there to walk home with him. He didn't really like walking home on his own. Axel sometimes walked with them, but most of the time he went somewhere else after school. Roxas was hay to see Sora was waiting for him at the gate. His smile turned into a frown when he saw his brother (A\N We'll say brother, it's just easier this way). Of course, Sora was doing a terrible job of hiding it. He hurried his pace.

"Sora? What's wrong?" Roxas asked, resting his hands on Sora's shoulders. Sora looked up and immediately hugged Roxas tightly.

"I… was coming over here… a-and…" Sora tried to continue, but stopped when his sobs became too much to talk over. Roxas began stroking his hair, in hopes of calming him down. He glared at a group of girls who were watching them, obviously enjoying what they thought was some weak form of twincest. They immediately looked away when they saw Roxas' glare. Eventually, Sora carried on. "Hayner… Hayner and these other guys started to… to… attack me…"

Roxas had three feelings going on right now. One, pure anger and hatred, all directed at Hayner and his new 'friends'. The second, was sympathy for his brother and the want to make him feel better. Lastly, pain. Pain from his memories. But Sora was more important right now.

"That bastard… Sora, wasn't Riku with you?" Sora simply shook his head, and Roxas decided to leave it at that. "Come on, Sor, let's go home. We've got swimming to do, remember?" Sora smiled to himself as he held Roxas' hand on the way home. Someday, Roxas was going to have to handle the situation with Hayner. Mum was told they were going swimming, but she told the boys to be home before it got dark, and that Axel was in Roxas' room. Sora made sure to make himself look like he hadn't been crying his eyes out. The two boys headed upstairs, before Roxas realised something. "Sora, when are we even supposed to be there? And where is there?"

Sora grinned. "4:30, Atlantica Pools… They've supposedly made it a whole lot better. There's all these great slides and stuff, apparently."

Roxas thought about that. Every time he went swimming, it was in some shabby pool in the back garden or something stupid like that. Sora retreated to his own room, and Roxas entered his own. He was surprisingly… relieved to see Axel sitting at the desk in his room, doing what looked like homework… It was nice to come home to him. "Honey, I'm home." Roxas said mockingly, smiling when he saw Axel spin around to look at him.

"Blondie! Welcome home," Axel greeted, getting up from the chair, "how was school?"

"It was fine… until _Hayner_ ruined it."

Axel immediately adopted a fierce expression. "What the fuck did that bastard do this time? I swear, if he…"

"Calm down, Axel… He… Him and his friends ganged up on Sora…" Roxas said slowly, turning away and sitting on the side of his bed.

"He _what? _He attacked Sora? I'm going to-"

"Axel, don't worry, Riku'll take care of them, probably… I already calmed Sora down, so he's fine now."

Axel looked at him oddly for a moment. "That's good, then… You know Riku?" Roxas looked at Axel oddly back, before realising that Axel didn't know he knew Riku.

"Err… yeah. He _is _my brother's boyfriend." Roxas pointed out.

Axel nodded. "I suppose… reminds me of how I met Riku…"

"How did you meet Riku?"

"Ah, that's a story for another day, Blondie… So! Swimming! At the new place!" Axel declared happily. Roxas smiled before pointing something out.

"Ax, you didn't bring anything with you." Roxas said, getting up from the bed, and opening his wardrobe.

"Did you just call me Ax?" Axel asked him, a bemused expression on his face. Roxas frowned.

"Uh…yeah. So? Is that… wrong, or something?" Roxas answered, hoping he hadn't said something wrong.

"Nah, it's just the first time you've called me by a nickname…"

"Oh. So, are you going to answer my question?"

"You didn't ask a question."

"Stop being such a smartass… I'd say you could wear a pair of my trunks, but… They'd be too small…" Roxas said absently. Axel shook his head.

"Blondie, you should know that Speedo's are all the rage these days." Axel said that as a joke, but really, it was probably true.

"Tch… Umm… I dunno." Roxas sighed in defeat.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, Roxas. It'll be sorted out when we get there." Before Roxas could respond with just how that would be, Sora came barging in.

"I'm ready. Are you two?" Sora asked, looking at Axel. Axel looked at him back. Roxas looked at both of them.

"Yes, we are ready. Let's go."

* * *

Roxas stopped and looked at the bright blue building in front of him. It was only one floor, but the whole place looked brand new, mainly because it had just been… upgraded, so to speak. "Rox, are you intending on actually entering this building today?" Sora asked, looking at him with a grin on his face as Axel slowed his pace slightly.

"Ah… Yeah, sorry. Just… spaced out, I suppose." Roxas replied, puting on his own smile.

"Come on, guys, sometime today… I've got loads of people to perve on." Axel announced. Roxas shook his head and headed past Axel, Sora following him. Axel chuckled lightly before following. The interior was pretty amazing, to say the least. The walls had an aquatic design painted onto them, with the sea bed at near the floor. The occasional mermaid was painted onto the wall, playing with the fish that inhabited the neverending blue. "Not too shabby, I must say… Better than that place near the university…"

"2 each." The woman behind the counter stated, looking bored out of her mind sat behind the counter.

"Talk about blunt…" Axel said under his breath, making Roxas laugh. The woman stared at him. He looked away, trying to hide his amusement. Axel handed over six of the odd balls, and she gave him three tickets. They walked into the locker room, seeing Demyx and Zexion were already there. "Hey, mah homies!" Axel shouted, Demyx and Zexion turning around. Demyx was slim, he didn't have any immediately obvious muscles. His torso was lightly tanned, in contrast to Zexion's thin pale frrame.

"Shut up, Axel! Stop being and idiot and get changed. Oh, here's your… speedo's…" Demyx said, snickering towards the end. Axel ignored him and swiped the said item from his hands. "Inside joke." Demyx informed the two confused onlookers, giggling slightly. Roxas walked over to the locker near Zexion, while Sora went to the other side of the room. Roxas began to take his stuff out of the duffel bag he had brought, when he turned around to say something. But he stopped when he saw Axel.

Axel was halfway through taking his clothes off, currently shirtless. Roxas couldn't help but stare… His torso was milky pale, slender and slightly toned. He had small abs, making his stomach look slightly bumpy. Roxas looked upto his face, examining the fiery, spiky red hair and the odd tattoos… and he suddenly felt slightly more self conscious. He didn't have the best body, he was loose skinned and he didn't exactly have muscles, so to speak_… _still, he was staring into Axel's face. '_He's so… beautiful…_' Roxas started to blush when he realised Axel was staring back into his face, a smirk adorning his lips. "Blondie, Blondie! I know I'm irresistible, but try not to be checking me out all the time." Axel said loudly, gaining the attention of the others.

"Roxie likes Axel! Roxie likes Axel!" That was Demyx…

"Demyx, please. Don't draw even more attention…" Zexion…

"I knew it! Hahaha!" _Sora_...

"Shut up. I just spaced out when I happened to be looking over at Axel." Roxas said defensively. He couldn't help but add in a touch of annoyance and general 'you've pissed me off, now' into his tone, and the others seemed to pick up on it. Except for Axel, he'd probably go on about it for ages.

"You're right, sorry, Roxas." Sora said, smiling apologetically. Roxas shook his head as he looked over to Axel, who was already walking past them and through the door leading to the pool. Demyx followed him, running despite the numerous warnings scattered across the walls saying not to run due to the water covering the floor. Zexion sighed and followed as well. Sora didn't, however, but stayed, waiting until he was sure nobody could hear them. "Rox, you can tell me how you feel."

Roxas stared into Sora's blue eyes. He wondered how they could look so alike, despite the fact they were not actually brothers. Roxas shook his head, again. "I… I don't know, Sora. I thought I was straight… It's strange to just suddenly like a boy."

Sora nodded and looked away. "Ok. We can talk about it another time, if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be… good." The duo left the locker room a few minutes later, Sora waiting for Roxas to change. They made sure their lockers were locked and then headed for the pool. The rumours going around about this place certainly were not wrong – there were three water slides around the pool. They all started from a platform, ladders leading up to the top of them. They were pretty lucky, today, because they along with maybe a couple of others were the only ones there.

"Hey, I just realised… Riku isn't here yet…" Sora muttered to Roxas as he lowered himself into the pool. Roxas began to wonder himself where he was. Riku never went back on his word.

"I'm sure he has a good reason. Maybe he's busy pulverizing Hayner." Roxas suggested, making Sora laugh a little. In the end, Sora ended up just treading water while staring out of one of the massive glass windows opposite them. Roxas shrugged and swam off to find the others. He frowned when he couldn't find them at all. He gasped in surprise when he was suddenly yanked under the water by a slender hand. He pushed the slim form away and rubbed the water from his eyes when he resurfaced. His eyes darted around until he saw a few spikes of red hair surface.

"Axel, you bastard! You scared me!" Roxas half yelled, looking around nervously afterwards to see if any of the little kids and their mothers who were there had heard him. Didn't look like it.

"Ah, don't be such a girl… Don't like a little water in your eyes?" Axel taunted, making Roxas just have to retaliate.

"Hey, Axel… I…"

Axel frowned and looked at him, a slight hopefulness rising. "What…?"

"I… really… thought it was better when you were under the water!" Roxas shoved Axel back under the water, but was easily overpowered, and Axel shoved Roxas under instead.

"Ya can't beat me, Goldilocks." Axel smirked, letting Roxas back upto the surface.

"Goldilocks… I'll show you Goldilocks…" Roxas started to send waves of water at Axel, and then Demyx decided it would be fun to join in. Zexion just watched, until he was pulled into it was as well, and even Sora snook up on Roxas and started to join in the water fight. Eventually, though, Sora pointed out that they should get going. They headed out of the pool, Sora disappointed that Riku had never shown up. While he was changing, he made sure to make it clear to _everyone_that he was going to have to get something from Riku to make up for his absence. Roxas shuddered at the thought of what that may be.

Roxas had just picked up his shirt to put back on when he caught Axel looking at him. He grinned slightly at the sight, wondering what the hell was so good about himself. Seriously, these guys definitely put a damper on his self-esteem. Axel quickly cottoned on to that Roxas was watching him, and turned away. He didn't blush, though, just smirked. Was that a hint? That was when Roxas caught a peek of Axel's lower back, just as said redhead was putting his shirt back on. There was a fairly bright red mark, roughly the size of a… hand. A fist, maybe. He didn't have much time to examine it before the shirt was pulled over the mark.

Was Sora right? Was Axel being abused by his parents, or someone? Roxas had an idea. When everyone was finished changing, with Demyx and Zexion talking about something and Sora chatting over the phone to Riku, who was most likely apologising to him, they were walking to the bus stop. Demyx and Zexion were to catch the bus home, and it was on the way to where the other three lived. The sky was growing dark, and the sun was close to gone.

"Axel?" Roxas said suddenly, the redhead beside him looking around.

"Yeah?" He responded, looking over to the younger blonde.

"Tell me abit about yourself."

"Fair enough… Well… you know my name, duh… You know where I live… I don't know what's to tell." Axel finished with a shrug.

"Why don't you tell me about your home life?" Roxas suggested.

"Ah, I… don't really… there isn't anything to say. It's just… go home, do homework, surf the net… that sort of thing." As Roxas had predicted, Axel had not given an honest answer. It was fairly obvious he was lying.

"That's a shame…" Roxas sighed, shaking his head.

"What about you? Tell me more about you." Axel said, his smirk slowly reappearing.

"Hmm… Well, I guess you're wanting to know about home… My real brother is called Cloud, he's in his early twenties but he just moved out. My dad… he visits us sometimes, his work keeps him busy enough away from home… When I get home, I just do my homework and play games with Sora. Street Fighter's good." Roxas finished just about when they had reached the bus stop. They bid each other farewell and then the cousins and Axel continued home.

"So! Axel, will you be staying with us tonight as well?" Sora asked, making the previous conversation about family and home lives go away.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought about that yet. I'll… tell you when we get back to your place." Axel reasoned. They continued walking in relative silence, until they got onto the street on which Axel lived. Roxas noticed him take a peek at his house. Only for a second though, before he returned his gaze to the road in front. They reached home, and Sora asked if Axel was staying or not.

"Nah, you guys, I'm gonna head on home." Axel said, smiling.

"Alright then, see you later." Sora said, walking into the house. Roxas stayed, looking up at Axel from inside the house.

"Something wrong, Blondie?" Axel asked, frowning.

"I don't see you leaving, either…" Roxas replied, smiling himself.

"Yeah, I was too busy staring at your pretty face, Blondie." Axel retorted. Roxas shook his head.

"Hey, Axel. Bend over a minute. You've got something on your face." Roxas said, pretending to squint at something on Axel's face.

Axel did so. "What? Where is it?" Roxas slowly pressed his lips against Axel's, the redheads eyes widening slightly in surprise. Roxas himself, was surprised that he had just done that… but it felt… _nice. Right. _Roxas, after just a few seconds of the warm, close kiss, pulled away with a soft smile on his face.

"What… was that for?" Axel asked, sounding bewildered. Roxas just closed his eyes.

"It was… a good night kiss," He said, opening his eyes, "so… see you tomorrow, Axel… sleep tight." And with that, the door closed.

Axel slowly walked back to his own house, his mind going through the event that had just taken place. Did Roxas… feel the same way about him? As he did Roxas? He spent the rest of the night thinking about it.


	8. Author's Notice!

Hi there. Sorry to say this after such a long period of no update, but I have been unable to write on the computer I normally do so on, and therefore it may be a month or so before an update can be expected. I'm currently posting from a library, so...

I'll remove this when I next update. Thanks.


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